-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A week after students seized Taiwan 's legislative building over a controversial trade deal with China , Taiwan 's president Ma Ying-jeou agreed to meet with protest leaders to help end the standoff and allow the legislature to get back on track , a spokesperson for the president 's office said .

Ma is willing to invite representatives of the movement to his office `` without any preconditions , '' Li Jia-fei , a spokesperson for the president 's office said Tuesday in a statement .

Hundreds of protesters , many of them university students , have been camped out in the Legislative Yuan 's main assembly hall since March 18 , over a service trade pact that they say could harm Taiwan 's economy and allow China to exert greater influence over the island . Thousands more have gathered outside the building , according to organizers .

At a press conference on Tuesday night , student leader Lin Fei-fan responded to the president 's invitation , saying the protesters agreed that no preconditions should be set for the meeting .

But , he added , the students wanted to discuss whether Taiwan needed new legislation to monitor all cross-strait agreements , and whether the service trade pact with China should be delayed until that legislation is introduced .

On Wednesday , Lin said the students were rejecting the president 's invitation for now as it failed to include a fixed date or time for the talks , or concrete content for discussion . He told CNN that the protesters inside the Legislative Yuan had no plans to leave .

`` We are willing to talk , but we really hope to see the president express sincerity , '' Lin said in a statement on his Facebook page .

The president 's office confirmed to CNN that the students had not yet accepted the invitation .

Taiwan signed the service trade pact with China , its biggest trade partner in June last year , but it is yet to be ratified . The agreement will open up 80 of China 's service sectors to Taiwan and 64 of Taiwan 's service sectors to China , including tourism , transport , construction and telecommunications .

A review of the deal was delayed in Taiwan 's legislature until March 17 , when Taiwan 's ruling party Kuomintang pushed the pact forward without bipartisan deliberation . The main opposition said that this move broke an agreement that all legislators would consider the deal one clause at a time .

Protesters , who claimed negotiations over the deal were opaque and undemocratic , broke into the legislative building in Taipei the next day , demanding that the pact be scrapped .

The demonstration has been mostly peaceful , but tensions boiled over late Sunday , when a group of protesters stormed the nearby executive building . More than 100 people were injured when riot police armed with wooden batons and shields evicted the protesters and dispersed the crowd using water cannon .

Hours before the scuffle , Taiwan 's president defended the deal in his first public address to the protests . Calling on the protesters to adhere to the rule of law , Ma said the pact would create jobs for young people and that without regional economic integration , Taiwan would be left behind .

Student leader Lin Fei-fan , speaking to CNN by phone from inside the legislature building Monday , criticized the pact . He claimed the deal would allow China to invest in `` sensitive and core industries '' including those associated with press freedom , such as publishing and advertising .

Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War , but Beijing still considers it a breakaway province , and has warned that any formal declaration of independence could lead to military intervention .

However , cross-strait ties have improved since Ma took office in 2008 , and recent high-level talks between the two sides have been hailed as a sign of thawing relations .

On Monday , a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department , Marie Harf told reporters that the United States has welcomed steps by Taiwan and China to reduce tensions and improve relations , and hopes that talks over the trade deal can be conducted `` peacefully and civilly . ''

`` We certainly support Taiwan 's vibrant democracy , which allows for this kind of robust political dialogue , '' Harf said .

The protests have garnered widespread support among Taiwanese living abroad . Rallies are being held in at least 10 countries , including Australia , Canada , France , Italy , Japan , South Korea , the United Kingdom and the United States .

CNN 's Esther Pang , Karen Chiu and Zoe Li contributed to this report .

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Taiwan 's president invites protest leaders to discuss end to political crisis

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Protesters have not yet accepted Ma 's invitation

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Students have been occupying Taiwan 's legislative building since March 18

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Movement opposes Chinese trade pact ; wants more transparency in cross-strait deals